MASTER CLASS : Hybrid training provides balance
Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/199111/
If you’re like most of my clients, you prefer either cardiovascular work or strength training, but not both.
So you probably do more of the activity you enjoy and less of the activity you don’t, which is completely natural. This may, however, lead to an imbalanced program over time.
Those of you who prefer strength training may be neglecting your cardiovascular system by doing little, if any, aerobic work. And endurance-minded exercisers may not be performing enough resistance training to induce any type of strengthening effect.
So how can you avoid becoming weak ?
Try hybrid training. Unlike circuit training, hybrid training doesn’t require short bouts of cardiovascular work (commonly called “cardio” ) interspersed with strength exercises. Instead, hybrid training allows you to perform strength-type exercises in a fashion that allows for cardiovascular improvement.
There are a few requirements for an exercise to be considered cardiovascular training. First, it must be continuous (like jogging ). Second, your heart rate must be high enough to elicit cardiovascular improvements (around 55 percent of your maximum heart rate ).
Finally, your heart rate must remain that high for a given period (at least 10 minutes ).
Hybrid training consists of a group of strength exercises designed to be more continuous in nature while providing enough stimulus to elicit cardiovascular training effects. If you perform them with very little rest between, your heart rate will remain high throughout the entire session, thus providing strength and cardiovascular benefits.
This week’s exercise is a hybrid that gives you the best of both worlds.
1. Begin by arranging yourself on a dip bar with your arms extended. You should be supporting all of your body weight with your arms.
2. Keeping your arms extended, raise your right knee to your chest and tighten your abdominal muscles.
3. Drop the right knee until it’s completely extended, then bring the left knee to your chest.
4. Speed up your cadence slightly as you begin to get the hang of the movement.
5. Perform 25 total knee lifts, rest for 20 seconds, and repeat for two or three sets.
This exercise is difficult because you are forced to lift your entire body weight with only your arms. The majority of exercises that fall into the hybrid category are relatively rigorous because of the heart rate requirements.
You need to do these types of exercises with very little rest between sets to gain a cardiovascular benefit, so stay focused and use your time wisely during the session. Former Arkansan Matt Parrott is assistant professor of Health and Fitness Management at Clayton State University in Atlanta.